Breakthrough
by Bittersweet Blossom
Summary: Betrayal is a funny thing, Leo learns. It lives in the back of your mind and whispers sweet nothings to you as you isolate yourself from the world. However, when he finds himself entangled with a certain dark haired daughter of Bellona, maybe he can find the courage to silence it. Leyna.
1. Prologue: And So Leo Says

**So, I've been meaning to publish something new for a while. I've been in a depressing place for a while, and I'm hoping that writing will help. I'm not sure how often I will be updating, but as always, I plan on finishing. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus. **

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New York was big. Its size, in fact, was the very reason that Leo had chosen the city. Because it was a _large_ city. So large that Leo felt that his powers were somehow less destructive. Because Leo felt like no matter how much fire he created, and how much it destroyed, he could never destroy a place as immense as New York. It almost made him feel normal.

_Almost_.

Leo had moved to New York just shy of a year ago. Even though the Second Giant War had ended three year ago (three guesses as to who won), Leo had remained at Camp Halfblood for another year. There he had a home and had friends, something that had been foreign to him since the loss of his mother. But after a particularly harsh betrayal, Leo found himself leaving, even if he had nowhere to go. The memories there were too painful, and Camp Jupiter was definitely not an option for the same reasons.

Leo wasn't necessarily bitter about it. He had long since learned that things were going to happen in life, and there wasn't a thing you could do about it. He also learned that people aren't always who they say they are, and that trust was far easier to break than it was to build or fix. And then there was his motto, his mantra: _keep moving forward_; it had held him together before, and as they say: old habits die hard.

At first, he had just traveled around the country, taking odd jobs and living in cheap motels. Once he realized how unsatisfying that was, Leo decided just to find a place and stay, settle down in a way. And that place just happened to be New York. Leo would never admit it, to himself or others, but part of the reason he chose New York was to be near Camp. It seems as if he couldn't quite let it go, no matter how much he wanted to. For better or worse, the place was a part of him, a part of who he was.

Once arriving at New York, Leo used what little money he had to rent an apartment on the upper east side of the city; it was a small, one bedroom apartment (along with a small living room and kitchen), but Leo never really was one for fancy things (though his designs for the Argo II, which originally included a game room and a hot tub, said otherwise). However so, the son of Hephaestus was comfortable.

The son of Hephaestus had briefly considered returning to school and had laughed quite loudly at himself when he registered what he was _actually_ thinking. Leo had absolutely hated school before he discovered he was a demigod. Leo never could concentrate and he hated reading, not to mention he _always _ended up being labeled a troublemaker. Finding out that his math teacher was actually some monster that wanted to kill him (rather than just some human that didn't like him) wasn't going to make him suddenly fall in love with it.

When his limited funds started running low (which did not take long at all), Leo took it as his cue to find a job. After again working the occasional odd job and thoroughly hating it, he found himself working at a small repair company, modest with only one location. He was only 18, but mortal electronics and appliances were painfully easy to figure out and it paid well enough. Also it left room for him to tinker with said objects, something he still enjoyed doing.

Proof of this was the number of random inventions in his bottom nightstand drawer. Said inventions ranged anywhere from something that you could find on the late-night infomercial to a new device that rivaled the latest smart phone. He had hoped to one day get one of his inventions patented, maybe for his mom or maybe for himself, but it was still his dream.

He often found himself standing before the patent office, a random invention in his hand; he never had the courage to go inside though. Rejection was painful thing, and even though he knew his inventions were top notch, it was a fear that lodged itself in the back of his mind and whispered words of doubt to him when he most needed courage. He tried to not let it bother him, but he felt weak and useless when he couldn't even bring himself to walk into a completely mortal building.

And Leo ran into the occasional monster also, but he had a knife with him at all times (for even though he much preferred a hammer, the knife was much easier to conceal) and his fire powers always proved useful against the occasional hellhound.

So life for Leo was pretty simple, and he was okay with it. He never asked to be a demigod or to be mixed up in a prophecy. Although the powers were cool, Leo had soon learned they weren't nearly worth the consequences that came with them. And once Leo had seen the horrors of war, he hoped to never have to endure such a thing again. The 18 year old was perfectly content with just being a "regular" New Yorker. Perfectly content with forgetting his past, and hopefully moving on to a mostly peaceful life, leaving his complicated history behind him.

But things are never really that simple, now are they?

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**Okay, so this was written right after I read The Lost Hero, so if it contains any inaccuracies from the more recent books of the series, sorry. Anyway, this will be a Leo/Reyna fic, so I hope you like the pairing and the way I'm portraying it.**

**So, if you feel like giving me your thoughts, don't hesitate to press that "review" button. **

**Thanks for reading. (:**


	2. Coffee and Chance Encounters

**Sorry for the wait; however, I bring you chapter 2! I've had it written for quite some time, but I've been ratehr busy with several things. Ont the plus side, the next chapter is mostly finished and should be following this one quickly. **

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson books and characters and whatnot are not mine. **

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Leo never much liked coffee. Not only did it taste bitter, but because of his fire making and resistant abilities, the sensation of coffee was always different for him than it was for majority of people, demigod or not. He could swallow the stuff scorching hot and it would be lukewarm at best to him. And because he didn't drink the gods-awful stuff much, he was too stubborn to buy a coffeemaker, meaning when he did drink coffee, he had to go to a coffee-shop and buy a small cup of it for a price that could only be considered highway robbery.

Because of this, Leo usually avoided the bitter drink altogether. However, once in a blue moon, Leo would stay up late tinkering with one such thing or another and would need to be at work early in the morning. When that did happen, coffee was the only way to assure that he might actually stay awake for the entire day. It would do him no good to pass out from sleep deprivation while rewiring a circuit or another such thing.

Said situation was where Leo had found himself in on what was supposed to be just another Friday. Leo was standing in the extremely long line that came with a New York coffee house (another reason he tried to avoid coffee-shops) waiting to place his order. Even though Leo absolutely hated the bitter taste that came with coffee, he always ordered his black. He never put ice in his drink, nor did he ever opt for a frappuccino of some sort. Although small, his dislike for coldness stemmed not only from his fight with the snow goddess, Khione, but also from having fire powers for his entire life.

Once receiving his black coffee, he'd make his way over to the 'condiments' and do his best to put enough sugar and creamer in the coffer so that it tasted like something other than unhappiness (the only word he could think of that truly described the taste of coffee in his eyes).

However, before he could order his coffee, the person in front of him, coffee in hand, turned around abruptly and tripped, effectively crashing into Leo.

Cursing, Leo tried to steady himself and the person, only to end up having both of them crashing down to the floor with a painful _thud_. As they hit the ground, Leo heard a popping noise, and soon felt his shirt soaked through with a warm, sticky liquid. (He took a moment to silently thank he gods his shirt was black and wouldn't stain; he had absoultely no clue how to properly treat a coffee stain.)

The 18 year old helped the person, who he could now tell was a girl about his age, up and couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about her. Apparently, the girl had a similar thought as they both just stared at each other in confusion, neither bothering with a sorry or to move out of the way of the line.

After staring at the girl for a few seconds, something on her arm caught Leo's attention. As he stared at it, he realized it was several scorch marks shaped in what looked like thin lines. There were seven to be exact, and they appeared to be burned into her skin.

Markings. Long, dark hair. Authoritative stature. _Oh gods_.

"Reyna?" Leo asked in disbelief. The son of Hephaestus' eyes widened and he briefly considering the fact that he might be dreaming (and so what if it took all his willpower not to pinch himself to check?). Leo hadn't seen or heard from anyone from camp in years. Not since he had left, in fact.

Regaining her senses, Reyna gave him another calculating look before her own eyes widened, replicating Leo's own expression. "Leo?"

Leo couldn't help himself; his face broke out into a mile wide grin. It had been so long since Leo had seen any of his old friends from camp, and even though he didn't want to admit it to himself or others, he had missed them. Although him and Reyna were never particularly close (a result of Annabeth be the seventh member of the prophecy instead of Reyna), they still had shared an interesting friendship in which Leo had told stupid jokes and Reyna had done her best to not laugh. Though whether Reyna had actually found the jokes funny or if she just thought Leo himself was stupid, he didn't know (though, he assumed the latter).

Thankfully, Reyna's expression mirrored his own and she was smiling too. It wasn't a goofy grin, as Leo's was though, more of a small quirk of the lips; a gesture you only knew was smiling from knowing Reyna for an extended period of time.

Looking around and noticing they were causing quite a scene, Leo asked, "Why don't we grab a table; you can tell me how camp's been since I left."

Though Leo tried, he couldn't keep the slight sadness out of his voice from that statement. He really had missed the place. A feeling of dread soon accompanied sadness; looking around quickly, Leo sighed in relief when he didn't notice any other recognizable faces. Glancing at Reyna, he watched as she pretended not to notice his panic.

A little hesitantly Reyna nodded and followed Leo into a circular table in the corner of coffee-shop. They both sat on opposite sides of the table and tried to ignore the stares that were still aimed in their direction. _Gods_, hadn't these people ever seen two random people bump into to each other only to find out they actually weren't just random strangers and actually knew each other? This was New York, for gods' sake, Leo was sure stranger things had happened.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Leo questioned, "So… what are you doing in New York?"

"College." The answer was curt and just a little bit flat, something Leo knew would change once Reyna got used to the situation at hand. Although she made a fierce Roman leader, Reyna had never been one to adapt to major change and unexpected well. A quality that Leo didn't share; his life had always been about change.

Still, the answer surprised Leo, and it reminded him that Reyna was a year older than himself. However, why would she go to a college in New York? Wouldn't California be the better (and more practical) choice? Or what about the camp college?

Sensing his confusion, Reyna explained, "Not long after you left, the two camps merged into one, out of convenience and an attempt at greater peace between Romans and Greeks. There had originally been a lot of dispute about which camp would move, per say, and which would serve as the grounds for the new, larger camp.

"After a while and a whole lot of senate debating, we chose Camp Halfblood. It was closer to Olympus and it would be easier to move the Roman camp, seeing as Romans were builders."

"Oh." was Leo's only reply. He never could have guessed the camps would unite. There were too many differences and even though relations were much better than before (as in, the Greeks and Romans no longer wanted to kill each other, _mostly_), there was still bad blood between the two groups. "But why didn't you just go to the college in New Rome?"

Reyna bit her lip before responding, "I wanted… to branch out, so to say. I just wanted to see a bit of the world outside of camp and I figured New York was the best place to do so. Maybe try and add a bit of normality in my life, I guess."

Leo smiled. "Yeah, New York is a pretty nice place to experience the world… isn't it?"

"Yeah," Reyna frowned, and her voice faultered, "Leo... Leo, why did you leave camp? And why haven't you been back?"

If Leo had been drinking coffee, he would've spit it out. He knew the question was coming; however, he didn't expect it to pop up so soon in their conversation and he needed more time to think of a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse for leaving without an explanation. For being there one day and gone the next. Come to think of it, Leo had probably worried a lot of his friends when he left. But at the time, he couldn't have brought himself to care. It was too painful; he just needed to _leave_. Leo's eyes darted around and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

After a few minutes of silence, Leo sighed. "I just… I just couldn't stay. I felt restless and I didn't want to leave, but I _had_ too. I needed to keep going, to keep moving forward."

Leo knew it was a lie, and one look at Reyna, and he knew she knew it was a lie also. His life before his original quest with Jason and Piper had been about moving, about change. Yet, he did find a home, one that he loved and wanted to be a part of forever. But Lady Fortune never shined upon him for long, and even his new home left him eventually (or rather, he left it).

However, the Bellona daughter didn't call him out on his lie, instead just choosing to nod her head in false understanding. Because even if Leo had told her the truth, she never would understand. He wasn't sure if he quite understood it all himself.

Also, Reyna appeared not to notice that he didn't answer the second question at all. Truth be told, he was scared about going back. What would his friends say? How would they react? Would they even want him back? After so long, how did he know they weren't mad at him, or maybe just no longer interested in his friendship? Leo usually busied himself in an attempt to stay away from such questions. He just wasn't ready to face the place he left, especially after the incident with… with; he forced the name (and the memories that were associated with it) to the back of his mind, where they would hopefully stay.

An awkward silence settled on the two and they both fidgeted nervously, neither wanting to break the silence.

Checking his watch, Leo cursed. 7:30. Had they really been talking _that_ long? He needed to be at the office in half an hour and it was across town; he'd never make it in time (especially with New York traffic).

He got up abruptly and almost dashed out of the shop before remembering he was with someone. Frantically searching around (and looking like quite the idiot in the process), Leo grabbed a napkin and scrawled his phone number on it whilst also trying his best to make sure it was legible.

"I've gotta run; I've got work in 30. Here's my number. Call me if you wan to catch up some more." Then Leo grabbed his coat and rushed for the door, trying to ignore the look of slight shock and hurt that crossed Reyna's face at his sudden departure.

Before he left, however, he turned back once to the girl he left sitting at the table, watching her as she tucked the napkin her jacket pocket. She looked up at him and Leo smiled slightly, "It was nice seeing you again, Reyna."

And then he was gone, lost in the crowd that was an all too familiar aspect of New York.

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**So yeah, first Leo and Reyna interaction. Actual romance between these two will probably be slow building in an attempt at realism; however, it will be here eventually. **

**Thank you for reading and feel free to drop a review on by, with thoughts or suggestions or anything, really. **

**Also, check out my other new story, _Responsibility_, which is Percy-centric (mt first one!). **

**Until next chapter, bye! (:**


	3. Thinking Happens to the Best of Us

**Sorry for the wait, seriously hoping chapter 4 comes on time. **

**Disclaimer: not mine. **

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Leo hadn't been able to concentrate the entire day whilst at work. He drove in the company van from place to place throughout New York; he ignored the surprised looks when people saw how young he was and fixed whatever broken appliance or object the customer had with little or no effort. Leo even told the occasional joke (though, the success of his jokes varied greatly).

However, even though he managed a calm and collected outward façade, his emotions and thoughts were in complete turmoil. Memories and past feelings flew through him at such speeds that he only caught glimpse of them, not that the fragmented memories hurt any less.

"_You're Leo," she had said, smiling innocently, "You designed the Argo II, right? I'm…"_

"_You know, Leo? I really like you…" _

"_I-I'm sorry Leo. I don't love you, not like that. I just missed… I just thought…" _

He forced them all to the back of his mind. It was not the time to be reminiscing in the past, not the time to wish he could have changed things. And it never would be.

On top of that, he also couldn't keep his mind off Reyna. There was no way in Hades he could have expected meeting the feisty girl in a random New York coffee shop, nor that she'd be clumsy enough to actually spill her coffee on him. Still, she hadn't changed much. She still held her head high with authority, and her hair was still dark with eyes to match. She was as pretty (and deadly) as ever. And she seemed happy to see Leo, something that left Leo with a small smile at the thought.

And even though it shouldn't have affected him that much, Leo felt as if the small event had sent his life rolling down a hillside and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stop himself. (Coincidences didn't really exist in his life, which meant there was more to this chance meeting than Leo could guess.)

Even though Leo felt as if the bottom of said hill could only spell disaster, he also couldn't help but feel glad that he had bumped into Reyna. Though he didn't want to admit it to himself, Leo had truly missed camp and the people he left behind with it. Though Leo and Reyna were by no stretch of imagination best friends, Leo wondered if that were for the best. For he knew if it had been Piper or Jason (or even Percy) who had found him, then he would've been asked way too many questions that he wasn't ready for, which was something that Reyna wouldn't do.

So, the firey boy had spent the rest of the day trying not only to forget his past, but also trying to remember it. But because the painful memories and the happy ones were often laced together, it was hard to tell which one he wanted to do more.

Once he left the repair shop, Leo headed straight for his small apartment. It was only 6 o'clock, and the day had been fairly monotonous, but the mental assault he had endured all day left him both physically and emotionally exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and avoid all his problems. And after years of doing just that, the son of Hephaestus would say he was fairly good at it.

So when Leo did get home, he kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the couch, not even bothering to go all the way to his cramped bedroom. Right before he drifted off, a sudden thought hit him: what if Reyna told the others where he was? The thought troubled Leo (for he wasn't ready to deal with what he left behind), but soon he was lulled into the world of the unconscious and it ceased to matter.

* * *

Even though Reyna didn't drink it very often, she enjoyed coffee. The bitter taste strangely reminded her of reality and she liked how much more aware she felt after having a cup of the dark liquid. Because of this, Reyna usually ended up going to coffee-shop once or twice a month, even putting up with the ridiculously high prices of a typical coffee-shop to get some of the bitter drink.

However, even with all her training, and experiences with unexpected situations, Reyna never could have guessed she would have run into _Leo_ of all people in said coffee-shop. Reyna hadn't seen the boy in two years, though it was a bit unfair to still refer to him as a boy. Leo had grown into a man.

The comedic boy had gained some height, so even though they had been the same height when the two of them had first met, Leo now had a several inches on Reyna. On top of that, his face had lost the boyish roundness that it had carried at 15, making him look more mature. And the daughter of Bellona thought while trying not to blush, he had gotten _attractive_. He certainly didn't look like the same person she had only known a few years back. And if the meeting at the coffee-shop was anything to go by, she doubted that he was.

In addition to his changed appearance, Leo held a new air of seriousness that he had been absent when Reyna had last seen him. The firey boy had always carried a certain air of sadness, but still managed to seem carefree or at the very least lighthearted. That Leo appeared to have completely disappeared, with only small fragments left to remind Reyna of the type of person Leo used to be. Whether the change was from living in the mortal world for nearly two years or from whatever had caused Leo to leave camp, Reyna didn't know (though, she did assume the latter).

Once Leo had left the coffee-shop, leaving only a napkin behind with his number on it, Reyna had just sat there staring at the table trying to sort through her jumbled thoughts. She wasn't sure what to think.

She didn't know why the son of Hephaestus had originally left camp, nor did she know why he never came back (or at the very least contacted camp to let them know he was not dead or captured). However, the daughter of Bellona seriously doubted it was for the reasons he had given her. Reyna didn't have the slightest clue as to why she had run into Leo now, but she had been a demigod for far too long to believe it was a coincidence; there was no such thing.

However, after about 30 minutes, she left to coffee-shop, feeling no reason to stay. It certainly wasn't going to help her situation with Leo. She never did get another coffee though, but there was too much on Reyna's mind for her to bring herself to care.

Once she had exited the coffee house, Reyna headed for her dorm, opting to walk since it wouldn't be that far. Besides, she needed to stay in shape. It didn't take Reyna long to reach the dormitories, and the walk seemed to have helped her clear her mind, even if only slightly. Upon arriving, she went up to her dorm, key in hand.

When Reyna opened the door, she found the room empty, meaning that her roommate Ashley, a nice (if only a little oblivious) girl she shared the dorm with, had already left for her morning class.

Sighing, Reyna sunk onto her bed. What should she do? Should she tell the others about Leo? Or should she keep it to herself, at least until she figured out the situation?

They were all so worried when Leo had abruptly disappeared. Jason and Percy had both wanted to send out a camp-sized search party, and Piper and Annabeth agreed (though on a smaller scale).

It was Hazel, however, who had calmed them all down enough and tried to be a voice of reason. Leo was a big boy and if he left, it was for a reason and he most likely didn't want to be found. Simple as that. And even though none of them wanted to believe it, Hazel was right. Leo wouldn't just leave; he had to have a rationale. However, the question still remained: what was it?

Because of this, Reyna decided that she couldn't just go off and tell camp that she had indeed found Leo, even if by accident. If the demigod had wanted to return to camp or keep on contact with his friends, he would've done so. Reyna suspected that whatever had caused Leo to leave was still haunting him.

Reyna continued to mull over why Leo had left until she heard the tell-tale click of the dorm door opening up. Looking over to the clock in surprise, she read that it was 10:56. She had been thinking about Leo for just over 2 hours. It had seemed as if it had only been minutes. Reyna blinked in surprise. She never let herself get lost in time like that; it was always of the essence.

"Hey," Ashley interrupting her musings, "have you done that paper for Political Science yet? I can't seem to find a topic to do it on, and it's due next week…"

Oddly enough, Reyna and Ashley had both majored in Politics, though their minorings were different: history and criminal justice, respectively.

Reyna didn't know Ashley's motives for her own choosing; however, Reyna's own decision had not been a hard one. She was a leader, simple as that, and there were two ways to become better at such a thing: experience and learning. Politics would give Reyna an idea about leadership in the mortal world, and history would allow her into the minds of past leaders, not to mention she had always had an interest in the subject.

"Um, yes," Reyna replied, still not fully into the conversation with her roommate, "I did it on the flaws of different government types and how they can be improved."

Ashley bit her lip. "Oh, that's cool. I'm afraid that doesn't help me much, though. I guess I should head over to the library; you wanna come?"

"Sure." Her answer was quick and abrupt, but she needed to distract herself.

Anything to distract herself from her latest problem. It was a cowardly way out, but Leo was always someone Reyna had found hard to read, not to mention the semester was only halfway through. She had plenty of time to try and dissect the reasons for Leo's disappearance (and maybe even try and convince him to come back).

Ashley was already out the door when Reyna came to her decision about Leo. She needed to figure out why he left and needed to convince him to come back to camp. Reyna suspected it was the only way to try and help Leo, not to mention all his friends were really worried about him, even after two years.

Checking her boot quickly for her dagger (because the demigod still ran into the occasional monster), Reyna followed her quickly out the door, making sure to grab her bag before she left.

It was while they were at the library when it had happened.

Ashley had asked Reyna for a dollar, seeing as she left her wallet at the dorm. Digging through her pockets, the college student pulled out the napkin that had Leo's number written on it in barely legible chicken scrawl. Upon seeing the number, her roommate went into _hopeless romantic mode_ and it was all downhill from there.

"Oh my gosh," Ashley squealed, "You've got someone's number! A boy's, perhaps? If it's a chick's, that's cool. My aunt swings that way; I don't judge. Either way, it actually _is_ possible for you to like someone! Is he cute? When did you meet him? Was it love at firs sight? Oh, I can't wait to meet him! Or, you know, her."

Trying her best not to be offended at Ashley's astonishment of her being capable of emotions (though that did not mean she felt that was about Leo), Reyna decided it was about time to end her roommate's completely inaccurate hypothesis as to why she had someone's phone number in her pocket.

"Slow down," Reyna ordered, trying not to blush when she heard _love at first sight_. Though he was a good friend, she did not like Leo _that_ way. "It's just an old friend from a camp I went to. His name is Leo, and we are _not_ in love."

"_Denial_." Ashley sang out the word, giving Reyna an unnecessary smirk. "Anyway, I still want to meet him, and I expect you to tell me all about him when… when we have girl's night tomorrow night!"

"Girl's night?" Reyna asked in disbelief.

"Obviously, and you're not skipping out. No excuses! We can order in pizza and rent of bunch of movies or something and stay up all night! And you can tell me all about Leo. It'll be _so_ much fun!"

Reyna sighed. There was no getting out of it. Once Ashley set her mind to something, she got it done no matter what (one reason why Reyna liked being around the crazy girl). And besides, as long as she avoided as much conversation about Leo as possible, it couldn't be _too_ much of a train wreck.

"_Fine_."

Ashley only squealed in reply.

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**Reviews, cookies, and suggestions welcomed. And no worries on the OC; I have no plans on making her a major part of the story. She just helps things move along. Thanks.**


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